Roll positioning means for a rolling mill

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to an incremental adjusting device for a roll of a rolling mill. The device includes two cooperative sliding bars arranged back to back and each having an equal number of steps, the steps of one bar being fine compared to the coarse steps of the other bar. A piston cylinder assembly selectively moves the coarse and fine steps between the mill housing and the bearing chocks of the roll when the mill is unloaded in order to maintain the roll at a predetermined passline of the mill during rolling.

United States Patent [1 1 1111 3,779,062 Gegick Dec. 18, 1973 ROLL POSITIONING MEANS FOR A 1,614,425 1/1927 Coe 72/244 x ROLLING MILL [75] Inventor: Charles Gegick, Pittsburgh, Pa. [73] Assignee: Wean United, Inc., Pittsburgh, Pa. 221 Filed: June 5, 1972 [21] App]. No.: 259,634

[52] US. Cl. 72/244 [51] Int. Cl B2lb 31/30 [58] Field of Search 72/244, 238, 239, 72/237 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 949,464 2/1910 Dean 72/244 602,864 4/1898 Matthews 72/244 Primary Examiner-Milton S. Mehr Attorney-Henry C. Westin [57] ABSTRACT This disclosure relates to an incremental adjusting device for a roll of a rolling mill. The device includes two cooperative sliding bars arranged back to back and each having an equal number of steps, the steps of one bar being fine compared to the coarse steps of the other. bar. A piston cylinder assembly selectively moves the coarse and fine steps between the mill housing and the bearing chocks of the roll when the mill is unloaded in order to maintain the roll at a predetermined passline of the mill during rolling.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEB DEC] 8 I973 SIEETZWZ In present-day rolling mills, and particularly hydraulic mills, it is customary to provide a screwdown mechanism for positioning the work rolls on the side of the housing opposite the roll positioning hydraulic cylinder sothat this work roll can'be maintained at a given passline even though its diameter has been reduced by restructed, trouble-free device for maintaining a roll of a .rollingmill in a selected adjustable position.

It is another object of the present invention to provide. an incremental adjusting means for a roll which is arranged between the housing and bearing checks of .one of the rolls of themill, in which said means includes afirstmember having a series of graduated steps of a first thickness range,.a second member having a series ofgraduated steps of a second thickness range, which latter range is substantially larger than the former range, and means for selectively moving said members into a position between said housing and bearing chocks.

These objects, as well as other novel features and advantages of the present invention, will be better understood when the following description is read along with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. l-is a sectional view of the center and left-hand portions of arolladjusting device built in accordance with the present invention;

FIG.-2 is a sectional view taken on lines 2 2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 1.

In'referring first to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings, it will be noted that onlya portion of one of the housings of a rolling mill and single roll assembly 11 is illustrated. The other well-known components of the rolling mill, including the other roll or rolls, have been omitted forsimplicit-y and in view of the fact that the present inventionfhasno immediate relationship to them. The roll assembly 11 includes a bearing chock 12; there being a similar bearing chock mounted on the other end of the roll, not shown. The bearing chock is provided with the housings of the mill is arranged the incremental roll adjusting device of the present invention. It should be noted, aside from themechanism forlocking and traversing the device, that the device continues to the right of FIG. 1 on which side the mechanism isduplicated. The device comprises on each side of the mill two cooperative horizontal bars 17 and 18. In the regiona'djacent the bearing checks the bars have formed thereo'n' fourequal length flat surface steps 19 and 21.

Thesteps l'9 of thebar 17 face away from the bearing chock 12 and have graduations much finer than the 2 coarse steps 21 of the bar 18, which it will be noted face towards the bearing chock 12. In the illustrated form of the invention, the steps 19 are graduated ata quarter inch increments; whereas, the graduations of the steps 21 are at one inch increments. The bars 17 and 18 have. flat adjacent surfaces 22, best shown in FIG. 3 against which they slide when the steps are to be positioned between the housing 10 and the bearing chock 12.

On the right-hand side of the bars 17 and 18 they take the form of uniform plates 23 and24 that extend towards the right until they join the step portions 26 and 27 of the right-hand assembly of the roll adjusting device. It should be noted at this point that the step portions 26 and 27, as can be seen as to the portion 26 in FIG. 1,have their steps in thesame disposition as the steps 19 and2l.

The bars 17 and 18 are restrained and guided by a pair of channel-shaped guide members 28 and 29, best shown in FIG. 2."FIG. 1 shows that the guide members extend foralmost the entire length of the bars 17 and 18. The bars having end projections 31 and 32 that fit into the interior lined portions of the guide members 28 and 29. The guide members are secured to the housing 10 by horizontal guide pins 34; the lower ends of which have enlarged heads that are contacted by the lower portions of the guide members 28 and 29. As shown best in FIG. 2, to the guide members 28 and 29 there are formed downwardly extending guideways 36 that receive upwardly extending portions of an horizontal plate 37; this plate helps form an. open top rectangularly shaped box 38. The horizontal plate 37 extends outwardly, as shown in FIG. 1, and at its inner ends the spacer block 15 is secured. The plate 37 itself is connected to plates 40 by a series of guide pins 41 having enlarged heads that serve as stops when allowed to contact brackets 42 secured to the plates 40.

The plates 40 form two of the side walls of a bottom open rectangularly shaped box 43 that extend downwardly past the top of the upward extensions of the plate 37 of the box 38, which fits within the box 43; thus, forming an enclosure of the entire roll adjusting device and isolating it from outside contaminants.

At the center of the roll adjusting device a horizontal plate 45 is secured to and adapted to bridge the guide members 28 and 29, the plate at its center being provided with an opening 46. Beneath the plate 45, adjacent to the opening 46, L-shaped members 48 are se cured to the plate by bolts 49. The members 48 form opposed guides and receive projections 51 of a block 52, having two vertical holes for receiving pins 54 and 55. The pin 54 is arranged directly above a portion of the plate 23 of the bar 17; whereas, the pin 55 is arranged above the plate 24 of the bar 18. Each of the plates 23 and 24 have a series of equally spaced openings 57 and58, respectively," spaced from each other an amount equal to the spacings of the steps 19 and 21. At

the top of the block 52 two piston cylinder assemblies 61 and 62 are supported and connected to the pins 54 and 55. The cylinder 62 has a somewhat larger piston rod and pin to compensate for the fact that the plate 24.

is below the plate 23, as shown in FIG. 2. The block 52 is advanced horizontally by a piston cylinder assembly 63 mounted on top of the plate 45.. The piston cylinder assembly 63 and the opening 46 are enclosed by a cover plate, shown only in FIG. 1.

In briefly describing the operation of the aforesaid roll adjusting device, let it be assumed that the roll 11 is to be removed and replaced by a roll of a smaller diameter requiring, in order to keep the roll at a given passline, a lowering of the roll as viewed in FIG. 1 by an amount of 1% inches from the setting illustrated in FIG. 1. The drawings, in this regard, depict a setting of W4 inches, as determined by the employment of the first steps 19 and 21 of the bars 17 and 18, in which step 19 provides a /4 inch displacement and step 21 a 1 inch displacement for a total displacement of 1% inches.

Before an adjustment of the r oll position can be made a clearance must be established between the steps 19 and the bottom of the housing 16 of the load cell assembly and also between the top of the spacer block and the steps 21, the extent of the clearances being equal to the highest step of each of the bars 17 and 18. These clearances are accomplished by the roll 11 being lowered so that the guide members 28 and 29 are permitted to lower until they engage the enlarged heads of the guiding pins 34 and a space is created between the steps 19 and housing 16. At the same time the spacer block 15 is allowed to lower until the enlarged head of the guide pins 41 contact the brackets 42, creating a space between thee top of the block 15 and the steps 21.

At this point one or the other of the piston cylinder assemblies 61 or 62 will be operated to place one of the pins 54 or 55 into one of the openings 57 or 58, respectively, which will be aligned directly below the pins. The piston cylinder assembly 63 will be then operated to bring the next horizontal step, for example, the steps 21 under bearing chock 12. This will effect a compensation of an additional inch given a total displacement of 2% inches. To obtain the additional A inch displacement to obtain the desired 2% inches displacement, the piston cylinder assembly 62 is operated to remove the pin 55 from engagement with the plate 24 and the piston cylinder assembly 61 will be operated to place its pin 54 into locking engagement the plate 23. The piston cylinder assembly 63 will then be operated to bring the next horizontal step 19 into position under the bearing chock 12, which since the steps 19 are graduated in A inch integrals, will add one-quarter inch to the total displacement and give the desired 2% inch displacement. As noted before, the positioning of the steps 19 and 21 for each side of the mill is accomplished at the same time by the operation of the piston cylinder assembly 63. If in a given case it is necessary to move two steps of one of the bars 17 and 18, the piston cylinder assembly 63 will be operated twice, between which operations the pins 54 or 55 will have been removed and replaced in a new hole 57 or 58.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, l have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof.

I claim:

1. In a rolling mill, a housing having a window for receiving a pair of rolls,

bearing chocks mounted on the ends of said rolls,

means for incrementally adjusting one of said rolls relative to the other roll, said means including a'first member having at least two steps of a first depth range and a second member having at least two steps of a second depth range, and wherein the two ranges are different, means for supporting said members between the housing and the bearing chocks of said one roll in a manner that the steps of said members can be brought into and out of operative cooperative positions, and

means for selectively positioning said steps of said members to vary the space between said housing and said bearing chocks of said one roll.

2. In a rolling mill according to claim 1 wherein said members are so arranged and include flat surfaces that engage each other to transfer the rolling load from one member to the other member, and wherein said steps of each member include flat surfaces, the flat surfaces of one member arranged to receive the rolling load of said mill from the bearing chocks of said one roll and the flat surfaces of the other member arranged to transfer the rolling load from one of said members to the housing.

3. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, including supporting means secured to said housing in a manner to permit said means for incrementally adjusting said one roll to move towards and away from the supporting portion of the housing,

said movement away from the housing being sufficient to allow the thickest combination of steps to freely move between the bearing chocks of said one roll and said housing.

4. In a rolling mill according to claim 1 wherein said steps of each member are formed on the opposite ends of each member in a manner to maintain a variable, but equal space between the housing and a different one of said bearing chocks of said one roll,

the series of steps on each end of said members being reversed so that one series faces towards the housing and the other series faces towards a bearing chock.

5. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, including a first rectangularly box-shaped member supported by said housing and enclosing a portion of said means for incrementally adjusting said one roll,

a second rectangularly box-shaped member secured to said housing enclosing a remaining portion of said means for incrementally adjusting said one roll, v

the relative size of said two box-shaped members being such that one of them fits within the other and is movable towards and away from the other in a manner to protect said adjusting means from contaminants.

6. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, wherein depths of the steps of said first member are the same and the depths of the steps of said second member are the same, and

wherein said depths of the steps of the first member are appreciably smaller than the depths of the second member.

7. In a rolling mill according to claim 6, wherein the 8. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, including a Y guiding means arranged to guide the movement of said members in a direction axially of said rolls,

means secured to said housing for supporting said guiding means in a manner to allow the guide means to move away from said housing an amount sufficient to allow the highest step of said first member to be freely positioned above a bearing chock,

other means secured to said housing for supporting a filler block arranged to be engaged by the steps of said second member and in a manner to allow the filler block to move away from said second member an amount sufficient to allow the highest step off said second member to be freely positioned above a bearing chock.

9. In a rolling mill according to claim 8, wherein said guiding means is adapted to support a power means, a locking means connected to said power means,

cylinder assembly. 

1. In a rolling mill, a housing having a window for receiving a pair of rolls, bearing chocks mounted on the ends of said rolls, means for incrementally adjusting one of said rolls relative to the other roll, said means including a first member having at least two steps of a first depth range and a second member having at least two steps of a second depth range, and wherein the two ranges are different, means for supporting said members between the housing and the bearing chocks of said one roll in a manner that the steps of said members can be brought into and out of operative cooperative positions, and means for selectively positioning said steps of said members to vary the space between said housing and said bearing chocks of said one roll.
 2. In a rolling mill according to claim 1 wherein said members are so arranged and include flat surfaces that engage each other to transfer the rolling load from one member to the other member, and wherein said steps of each member include flat surfaces, the flat surfaces of one member arranged to receive the roLling load of said mill from the bearing chocks of said one roll and the flat surfaces of the other member arranged to transfer the rolling load from one of said members to the housing.
 3. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, including supporting means secured to said housing in a manner to permit said means for incrementally adjusting said one roll to move towards and away from the supporting portion of the housing, said movement away from the housing being sufficient to allow the thickest combination of steps to freely move between the bearing chocks of said one roll and said housing.
 4. In a rolling mill according to claim 1 wherein said steps of each member are formed on the opposite ends of each member in a manner to maintain a variable, but equal space between the housing and a different one of said bearing chocks of said one roll, the series of steps on each end of said members being reversed so that one series faces towards the housing and the other series faces towards a bearing chock.
 5. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, including a first rectangularly box-shaped member supported by said housing and enclosing a portion of said means for incrementally adjusting said one roll, a second rectangularly box-shaped member secured to said housing enclosing a remaining portion of said means for incrementally adjusting said one roll, the relative size of said two box-shaped members being such that one of them fits within the other and is movable towards and away from the other in a manner to protect said adjusting means from contaminants.
 6. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, wherein depths of the steps of said first member are the same and the depths of the steps of said second member are the same, and wherein said depths of the steps of the first member are appreciably smaller than the depths of the second member.
 7. In a rolling mill according to claim 6, wherein the steps of one member progressively increase in relationship to one direction and the steps of the other member progressively decrease in relationship to said one direction.
 8. In a rolling mill according to claim 1, including a guiding means arranged to guide the movement of said members in a direction axially of said rolls, means secured to said housing for supporting said guiding means in a manner to allow the guide means to move away from said housing an amount sufficient to allow the highest step of said first member to be freely positioned above a bearing chock, other means secured to said housing for supporting a filler block arranged to be engaged by the steps of said second member and in a manner to allow the filler block to move away from said second member an amount sufficient to allow the highest step off said second member to be freely positioned above a bearing chock.
 9. In a rolling mill according to claim 8, wherein said guiding means is adapted to support a power means, a locking means connected to said power means, said members having portions engageable by said locking means.
 10. In a rolling mill according to claim 9, wherein said power means includes a first piston cylinder assembly, said locking means including separate locking pins, a separate second piston cylinder assembly for each of said locking pins, spaced openings in said members for receiving a different one of locking pins, said openings being spaced so that one of each of said steps of said members can be positioned above a bearing chock on the operation of said first piston cylinder assembly. 